Ammunition Accountability: Maybe we’d better take this bill seriously

Dave Henderson
The Ithaca Journal
December 11, 2008

Ever since the early 1970s, whenever downstate Assemblymen rattled sabers and proposed radical anti-gun or anti-hunting legislation, we could count on the conservative Senate Republican majority to block it.

That was then.

The scene changed dramatically on Nov. 4. Now the outrageous stuff coming out of the Assembly has some credence on the other side of the aisle. The Democrats — and that means the New York City mentality — have the majority in both houses. Except for four swing votes, they have pretty much carte blanche.

That’s why the fact that the Assembly has bought into a national crusade known as the Ammunition Accountability Act is suddenly a legitimate threat. New York, Pennsylvania and 16 other states have already enacted legislation that would mandate the engraving of a unique serial number on the base of each handgun and “assault weapon” bullet, and an identical number on the cartridge’s case. The act calls for dealers of this “encoded ammunition” to record the purchaser’s name, birthdate, drivers license number, etc.

All non-encoded ammunition must be disposed of prior to Jan. 1, 2011. The database and other expenses involved would be paid for by a special tax of a half-cent per round of ammunition sold.

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